


Privacy Breach

by THeartsQT



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Big Hero 6: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Development, Complete, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, Oneshot, set after the end of season 1, superhero identity reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25156489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/THeartsQT/pseuds/THeartsQT
Summary: Karmi loves Captain Cutie. Correction: She's unhealthily obsessed with him. But a crush of that magnitude means that the only thing he can do now is let her down... When her fanfiction is taken down, she seeks for Big Hero 6's 'express permission' so she can continue. She'll need their real identities for that. Is this girl actually starting to grow a conscience?
Relationships: Hiro Hamada & Karmi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Big Hero 6, I'm not Disney. I am, however, a very big fan. And recently I reviewed the rules & guidelines, which was what inspired me to write this...

It was late in the evening and Karmi was sitting cross-legged on her bed, her laptop open in front of her to her fanfiction page.

ALERT: Storyteller has updated its terms of use. Please click here for more information.

Karmi absently clicked the link. She had never read the terms of use, and she decided now would be as good a time as any.

She scrolled, reading without really absorbing anything. They were cracking down on copyright infringers, privacy breachers, yadda yadda yadda...

After clicking the link to her page, her fingers rested over the keys, her mind racing with the idea for her next chapter.

And then she saw it.

ALERT: KHeartsQT, your story has been taken down due to privacy breaches. Stories are not allowed to contain references to real-life people presently alive, without their express permission.

A numbing feel took over her body as she went back to her other stories. The same message appeared over all of them.

And just like that, her heart broke a little.

* * *

_The next day at SFIT_

"Ugh. What now," Karmi scoffed at Hiro as he approached her solitary cafeteria table.

"Er... heh. I was wondering if you could keep me up to date on any happenings at Sycorax..." he trailed off at her glare. "But, I mean, you seem in a pretty bad mood today and it's not like the fate of San Fransokyo depends on it so... I'm just gonna..." He left.

Karmi ignored him, getting back to her drawing of Captain Cutie. It was too bad no one else but she would ever see it.

Throughout the day, many students came up to Karmi, commending her on her fanfiction and asking why she had not released the next chapter yet. She replied by telling them of how her story had been taken down, and they empathised. Fred even offered a few words of solace, encouraging her to continue the story on a different fanfiction platform and assuring her that her fans loved her work. She gave a small smile. The practicality of writing a new chapter wasn't a problem, however.

It was the principle. Was it right to write fanfiction about a real person? Or a real person's alter-ego? Then she remembered that this was what Hiro had told her the day her fanfiction started gaining popularity. Was it right to do this?

And what would Captain Cutie think if he ever read it? She blushed. He had read it. She remembered how the team had adopted ideas from her work to help save themselves from Momokase's high-security cell on Akuma Island. Captain Cutie had even created Overdrive Mode for Red Panda. And afterwards, she would never forget what he had told her. She daydreamed. As long as there is a Captain Cutie, there will be justice, he had said proudly. So, in a way, he had given her permission to continue with her fanfiction.

She just needed his official, express permission... so she could continue with an absolutely clean conscience. And the only way to do that would be to find out who he really is.

Karmi was excited. She had a mission.

"Hey Karmi. Feeling better?" asked Hiro cautiously from the door to her lab.

"Oh yeah, much better, thanks," Karmi quipped, rolling around the room in her chair, taking various pathogen samples from shelves. She was in a cheerful mood now she knew exactly what to do.

"Woah, that was a quick change. What was up before?" he said, entering her lab.

"Something. Nothing." She smiled.

Hiro took a step back. There were only two people Karmi ever smiled with that he knew of: Captain Cutie and Liv Amara. In short, Karmi was thinking about one of them, and that almost certainly meant something bad for either Hiro or the city. Or both.

Karmi was a little offended by his stepping back. "What?"

"It's just... there are only two people that can make you smile. Captain Cutie and Liv Amara. You're thinking of one of them."

Karmi's eyes widened. "How do you know?"

Hiro shrugged, hands in pockets. "Just do. Was something up with one of them in the morning?"

"Uh... kind of. But I've got it figured out."

"Huh. Well, see ya." And with that, he left.

* * *

Hiro had just gotten out of class when he received a text from GoGo. It read: 'Docks. Now.' Those two words had Noodle Burger Boy written all over them.

He quickly called Skymax and geared both him and Baymax up, before jumping on his back and flying towards the docks.

Upon landing, he saw immediately that the other members of Big Hero 6 had already assembled, and were fighting a very cunning Noodle Burger Boy. It was nothing the team couldn't handle, though, and within minutes the fight was over, with Noodle Burger Boy claiming that they were very evenly matched, and that he would come back later with a better upgrade.

"Gee whiz, misters, that's not swell." And he left, riding on his dumpling-shaped buddy guards to the sound of his theme song.

"You know, we should have our own theme song," suggested Fred. "It'd be, like, so cool. Whenever a villain dares disturb the peace, we shall swoop in like the awesome heroes that we are, complete with theme song, and they will be intimidated." He stressed the last word by wiggling his fingers.

"But Freddie, wouldn't they know we were coming then?"

"Uh... you're right Honey Lemon. We, unlike Noodle Burger Boy, have the asset of stealth." He wiggled his fingers again.

Just then, the team heard running footsteps. They turned in unison. "Who's there?" called Wasabi. When there was no answer, he called again. "Seriously, who's there? It's getting a little creepy so if you aren't a villain, please come out. If you're a villain and you want to launch a surprise attack, I guess you wouldn't show yourself... So if you don't come out we're gonna have to assume battle stances!"

From behind one of the crates, a girl stepped out. She lifted her head. "Hi," she said meekly.

"Karmi?" asked Hiro incredulously. He remembered to put on his deep voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh!" She blushed furiously in the presence of her idol, Captain Cutie. Deep breaths, Karmi. Deep breaths. After composing herself, she continued. "You guys aren't busy now, are you?"

Hiro looked to his friends. "No, not really. We just finished fighting Noodle Boy."

"Uh- Noodle Burger Boy," Fred corrected.

"Did you win?" Karmi asked hopefully.

Hiro scratched the back of his neck. "Not... not exactly. He got away."

She looked slightly disappointed. "What I came here to ask is, well, you know about my fanfiction, right?"

They all nodded assent.

"Are you guys ok with me writing it?"

That shocked Hiro. The Karmi he knew was shameless. If she wanted to write highly inappropriate fanfiction about his alter-ego, she went ahead and wrote it. Although... now that he thought about it, he had given her permission to do so after trying to understand the extent of her obsession. He still wasn't sure if he regretted that or not; he had done something nice for Karmi but she was still rude to him. And for that, he had to suffer the gradual disintegration of his dignity.

He looked back at the team. They were all waiting expectantly for his answer. Hiro sighed. He knew what the right thing to do was. "For sure. Remember how your fanfiction in fact helped save us from Momokase's trap? We'd like to thank you for that again. Keep writing, Karmi."

Karmi brightened significantly. "Captain Cutie... I need you to send a letter of your permission to Storyteller. They won't let me keep publishing my story otherwise. I need all of you to sign it. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

Big Hero 6 was collectively shocked. Hiro didn't need to look at his teammates to know what to say. He was firm. "Karmi, we understand how much this means to you. But signing our names would mean revealing our civilian identities to the public. It could put us in greater danger of attack from villains, around the clock. While we're in school. While we're asleep. We'll always have to watch our backs. Can you imagine what that would be like?"

Karmi's voice was soft. "No. I would rather die than put your group in danger." She paused.

"School," she said.

"School!" she said, louder, realising.

It was only then that Hiro realised what he had said. While we're in school. Geez, he was so stupid. But... that could mean any school, right?

Karmi pointed at Honey Lemon. "Chemistry major. Look at those balls that react on impact." She pointed at Wasabi. "Plasma. Obviously." At GoGo. "I saw you experimenting with those low-resistance wheels." At Fred. "You're the only one with a voice like that, ok? And you didn't even try to hide it. Though I still don't know your name."

All this while, the team had been looking on, shocked. She had been working with them for the past year and yet she had never noticed before. Perhaps this revelation was inevitable.

Karmi's finger was pointed firmly at Hiro. He was next.

Baymax chose this time to say, "Hiro, your heart rate has elevated considerably. I recommend calming meditation and: rest."

This only caused Hiro's heart to start beating at a rate that could only be unhealthy. He could literally see it banging against his chest.

"You're Baymax," Karmi said, with tears in her eyes. "You're a nurse."

"And you," she said to Hiro, wiping away the tears on her sleeve. "You..." She didn't even finish her sentence before she ran off.

Big Hero 6 just stood there.

"Well," started Wasabi in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm surprised she didn't figure it out sooner. A visor can only get you so far. And these dreadlocks certainly gave me away." He laughed.

"Yeah, least it's not as bad as Granville knowing," stated GoGo.

"What harm could she do? She won't tell anyone, right?" asked Honey Lemon uncertainly.

"She doesn't tell anyone anything anyway. Except for her viruses," said GoGo bluntly.

And in the chatter, Hiro was still staring after her, tears masked by his visor. He had just crushed the one dream she had. God, why couldn't he do anything right? All those times he had accidentally thrown chairs at her, squirted ketchup on her dress, killed her first pathogen N4-5... he couldn't keep track of all the mistakes he'd made. And all those times he was mean to her on purpose. Those were the worst. Especially when he was jealous of her internship at Sycorax...

And now he had destroyed the image of the one person she came back to every single time... Captain Cutie. He took off his helmet- what was the point of it anymore?- and trudged slowly back home. His friends called after him, but they knew what he was feeling and decided to give him some space, which he was immensely grateful for.

Baymax asked, "Hiro, activity in your amygdala is significantly increased. This shows that you are: sad. Would you like to fly on my back to cheer you up?"

"No thanks, Baymax."

And the boy genius/superhero went home.

* * *

Karmi wished it would rain. It would give her another reason to be sad, which was what she wanted to be right now. She had exactly two things that she did with her life, other than eating and sleeping. One was biotech. The other was writing fanfiction. But now... half of herself was gone.

She punched her pillow. She knew she should never fall head over heels with someone she barely knew. She knew she shouldn't have obsessed about him so much. And writing fanfiction? Why, that was torture to the highest degree, especially when she knew she couldn't have him.

But now she didn't want him.

She stopped abusing the pillow to think. She had loved Captain Cutie. But... she couldn't think of a single person behind the mask that would actually be able to live up to the lofty expectations she had set for him. It was better to imagine what he was like than to let herself down by finding out. Sometimes it's better to never meet your heroes, she thought. Someone had told her that, or she had seen on TV or maybe both. She couldn't remember, but wherever she had heard it, it rang true.

She pummelled the pillow again. Never. Meet. Your. Heroes. And then she smiled at the pun she had inadvertently made. Never meet your Hiros.

Karmi realised something then. She had loved Captain Cutie. But why? Because he was cute, obviously, but also because he was valiant and selfless and bold. And he rescued her once. But Hiro had done all those things, hadn't he? And though he wasn't nearly as cute out of gear, that was still him. He had allowed her to continue writing her fanfics, knowing how much they meant to her, despite the utter embarrassment he must have faced. He had praised her on her biotech breakthroughs. And she remembered what he had told her once, something she ignored...

"Try being nice to that genius kid at your school, won't you?"

She plonked her face into her pillow. She had been so rude. So rude. And she couldn't take it back. In her defence, she didn't know how nice Hiro had been to her... he had saved her life after all, and nothing could change that... but she should have been welcoming to a fellow younger student, rather than demoralising. And Hiro had been nothing but encouraging to her.

Karmi fell asleep in that position, guilt burying her deeper. How she longed for the rain.

But it never came.


	2. Chapter 2

This was the first time Karmi hadn't wanted to go to SFIT.

It was Hiro's first time too.

But since they didn't want to worry their parents, they had decided to hope not to run into the other at school. They were going to avoid each other.

* * *

One week later Karmi still hadn't released the next chapter of her fanfic. She was inundated with fanmail, pressing her to write the next chapter, encouraging her and assurring her that they were her biggest fan. A few were concerned, wondering if everything was ok, while others accused her of not taking her writing seriously. Karmi did not reply to any of them.

How could she write about Captain Cutie when she knew exactly who he was?

She was in the middle of running test 5 on her pathogens when she pulled her laptop towards her and began reading all the chapters she had ever written about Captain Cutie. Only this time, she knew she had been writing about Hiro.

It struck her just how obsessed and, frankly, irrational, she had been. Captain Cutie was perfect in ways Hiro could never be, because half of his identity had been constructed by her imagination. Hiro could never live up to that. No one could.

She sighed as she remembered every time her hero had ever spoken to her. And she frowned as she remembered the times Hiro had spoken to her. Or tried to speak to her before she cut him off or insulted him. But she liked insulting him! It was fun! And he was so young, it was easy. She would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy their rivalry, even a little bit. But she wondered if she would enjoy their friendship more.

As she reached the end of chapter 11, she gagged. Audibly. For that was when she had written that she and Captain Cutie shared a blissful kiss. Ew! What had she been thinking?!

Karmi slammed her laptop shut and pushed it away. This was why she was destined to have no social life. No doubt, Hiro would have _hated_ her after she wrote this! But he never told her to stop. Karmi wondered what it must be like to be humiliated, yet not allowed to stand up for yourself.

Enough reminiscing. Karmi reached for G2-9 and inserted two drops of a green liquid into its Petri dish.

* * *

One week later, Hiro was ready to confront her.

"Look, Hiro, I know how much she means to you, and hurting her like that must have really taken it out of you..." comforted Honey Lemon.

Hiro nodded. He knew now that he really did care about Karmi. Not like that, though. Like a person you wished was your friend.

"But think about it this way," Honey Lemon continued. "She had two main parts to herself: being the youngest student at SFIT and being an almost-celebrity fanfiction writer. You took the first one away, and that wasn't your fault, but you've taken her writer status away too. And I know that isn't entirely your fault either, but there is something you can do to help. Talk to her, Hiro."

Hiro nodded again. He had already thought about everything his friend said, but it was easier said than done.

"And she hasn't published a chapter in a whole week!" moaned Fred. "I don't know what to do with all my free time anymore!"

Abruptly, Hiro stood from the cafeteria table and walked over to Karmi. It was more like a march, since he didn't want to give up on his self-resolve and go back to his seat. _Time to face the bear_ , he sighed.

"Hey, Karmi," he said, waving. Though he couldn't bring himself to smile; he was too nervous.

"Hi, Hiro," greeted Karmi, but she wasn't smiling, either. She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I'm sorry I wrote all those things about you. I was re-reading them today and I realised how they must have made you feel. I was delusional. No matter who Captain Cutie was, I would have been disappointed. Thanks for being cool about it though. And you saved my life once- I'm indebted to you. And all those times you praised my work... you were just pretending. Can we just not talk anymore? It's too awkward."

"But Karmi, I want to. And we never spoke to each other in the first place. It was more like an exchange of roasts." Karmi smiled weakly at that. "I never hated you, Karmi. I never pretended either. Well... except maybe I fabricated that deep voice?" Hiro switched to his Captain Cutie voice to cheer her up. "As long as there is a Hiro Hamada, there will always be a Captain Cutie." He spoke normally. "Although please tell me you don't still have a crush on me."

She laughed. "No, don't worry about that, Genius Boy. I need to reign myself in sometimes; I must have made Captain Cutie _really uncomfortable_."

"You have _no_ idea."

"But I still think you're amazing. As Captain Cutie, that is. As Hiro, you're dumb. But I guess I like you that way too."

"Heh. Back at you." He rubbed his neck.

Just then, Professor Granville decided to join their conversation. "Excuse me for a moment, Mr Hamada, but I was notified of a breach in security recently as a certain civilian-" she nodded at Karmi, "found out about your alternate identities."

"Uh, yeah. But don't worry, Professor Granville. We've worked it out."

"I assume you've been negotiating the terms of her keeping her lips sealed?"

Karmi suppressed a smile, giving Hiro a sideways glance. "Not- not exactly," the boy genius replied.

That only caused Granville to smile. "I see our two youngest geniuses are _finally_ getting along. I was wondering if I'd have to spend all my money giving you cafeteria treats. I knew it'd work out in the end. Though heaven forbid it took this long." She left.

Hiro placed both hands on Karmi's table, and looked her in the eye. "Karmi. Friends or rivals?"

"Mmm... being rivals was kind of fun... but I'm going to have to go with friends." Her eyes twinkled. She had acquired her second friend, after Liv Amara. Or maybe he had been her friend all along, with her just refusing to accept him.

"Great!" Hiro pushed off the table, sending it a few centimetres backwards along with Karmi. "Hmm... maybe you could be the next member of Big Hero 7? I'll have to check with the team. You're a biotech major after all, and that's certainly a skill we're missing, especially with recent villains..." Hiro thought aloud.

"What did you say?! You're not _still_ suspecting Liv, are you? Hiro!"

"But what do you say to the offer? I could make you a suit. "

"Mmm... I don't think that's really my thing. I'd have to take time out of my studies too, and it's kind of dangerous... So thanks, but no thanks, Hiro. I'm happy the way I am. Writing fanfic, locked up in my lab..." she listed.

"Ok then." Hiro made to leave. He turned suddenly. "Wait, writing fanfiction? You're not still on about that, are you?"

Karmi grinned mischievously. "My new chapter is about how Karmi found out who Captain Cutie really was, and learned a lesson about obsession over real love. She and Captain Cutie become friends but... Captain Cutie has a new love interest."

Hiro's face contorted into one of confusion. "Huh? Who?"

Karmi's face lit up. "Speed Queen!"

"AARGH." And with that, Hiro just left.

But he turned around again. Karmi grinned, "Can't keep away, can you? I knew you had a crush on me."

"I don't-" _Friends, not rivals, Hiro. Friends,_ he had to remind himself. "Karmi, I'm trusting you to keep our identities a secret. Do not tell _anyone_. Like, _ANYONE_. Please."

And then Hiro left.

For real this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thank you for reading my story! Just to clarify, Karmi and Hiro are friends. I friend-ship them.
> 
> *Grins mischievously* For now.
> 
> Also, in my opinion, I think the reason Karmi thinks Hiro has a crush on her is because she doesn't see a reason for him to be nice to her other than that. She can't accept that he's just being nice, because he's nice.
> 
> Please review if you liked this story, and check out my other story Issue 189. That, my friends, is where the shipping begins.


End file.
